MANILA, Philippines - The strong performance of local companies and less anxieties over Ukraine pushed the main stock index to a four-month high yesterday.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index jumped 0.94 percent or 60.68 points to 6,516.82, its best closing since ending at 6,519.58 on Nov. 5. The broader All Shares index gained 0.75 percent or 29.15 points to 3,910.63.
Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Equities Corp., said the local bourse sustained its run “with a good number of issues hitting fresh records as the index hurdled the 6,500-mark.â€
A number of firms performed well yesterday, including JS Summit Holdings Inc. (+1.93 percent), LT Group Inc. (+2.32 percent), Emperador Inc. (+2.9 percent), GT Capital Holdings Inc. (+2.3 percent) and Petron Corp. (+3.73 percent) that will debut in the FTSE All World index.
Calaycay said Asian markets were on a similar path of growth despite the retreat in US stocks.
Asian markets welcomed the diplomatic actions to ease tensions in Ukraine. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 1.59 percent or 237.12 points to 15,134.75.
In contrast, Wall St. slightly slipped ahead of the release of the latest payrolls data. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.22 percent or 35.70 points to 16,360.18, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.01 percent or just 0.10 point to 1,873.81.
Locally, most counters were in the green, led by industrial companies that gained 1.24 percent or 120.71 points to 9,885.77. But the property sector lost 0.39 percent or 9.78 points to 2,472.19.